Louisiana School That Made Headlines Sending Poor Kids to Elite Colleges Falsified Records

A Louisiana private school that became a viral sensation for its record of sending underprivileged black students to Ivy League schools falsified transcripts, made up student accomplishments, and carried out physical and emotional abuse of students, The New York Times reports. The T.M. Landry College Preparatory School has featured on the Today show, Ellen, and the CBS Morning News because of its apparently extraordinary ability to get its working-class students to elite U.S. colleges. But former staff and students now allege that school founder Michael Landry submitted fraudulent transcripts to top schools such as Yale, and current and former students claiming that he told them to lie on their college applications. Landry also allegedly wrote transcripts that included high marks in courses that students never took and achievements they never even attempted. He has admitted that he hit students and could be rough on students, but denied falsifying transcripts and college applications.